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If you’ve read my reviews before, you most likely know I’m a huge horror fan, but what you might not know is that slashers don’t generally do much for me. Sure, there are some exceptions, like the Scream franchise and the fantastic 2006 slasher parody Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, but by and large, a bare-bones slasher doesn’t excite me the same way that, say, a bare-bones haunted house flick does. So unsurprisingly, when I first heard about Heart Eyes, I didn’t plan on seeing it. But then something happened. The film started to get rave reviews, so I had to check it out for myself. I bought a ticket for opening weekend and hoped for the best, and now that I’ve finally seen the movie, I’m happy to report that it deserves every bit of praise it gets.
Heart Eyes was directed by Josh Ruben, and it stars Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, Devon Sawa, and Jordana Brewster. In the film, a mysterious murderer known as the Heart Eyes Killer has terrorized the nation for the past few years. Every Valentine's Day, he chooses a different city and massacres couples unlucky enough to cross his path, and now that his favorite holiday has come again, the entire country is on high alert as they wait to hear where (or even if!) this homicidal maniac will strike again. This year, the HEK has chosen Seattle as his target, and he seems especially intent on killing Ally and Jay, a pair of new coworkers who have undeniable romantic chemistry. They’re not quite a couple yet, but apparently they’re close enough, so once they find themselves in the villain’s crosshairs, they have to do everything possible to stay alive until Valentine’s Day is over. On the surface, that may sound like little more than a holiday veneer put over the same generic slasher plot we’ve seen countless times before, but I can assure you that it’s not. At its core, Heart Eyes is actually a romantic comedy, and after the customary opening kill sequence, the horror takes a back seat until around the forty-minute mark or so. In the mean time, the movie focuses on the characters of Ally and Jay and their budding relationship, and they’re an utter joy to watch. Lead stars Mason Gooding and Olivia Holt have amazing chemistry together, so you won’t just believe their attraction. You’ll root for them to find true love together, and you’ll enjoy seeing their young relationship blossom before your eyes. In particular, I have to give special props to Mason Gooding. His work in the two most recent Scream films already put him on the map, but he was always a secondary character in those movies. Fans weren’t sure if he could carry an entire feature on his own, but after seeing him in Heart Eyes, I’m happy to report that the answer is a resounding yes. His characteristic smooth charm makes him immediately likable, and it doesn’t wear off until the credits begin to roll. He’s just one of those people you can’t help but love, so he’s perfect for a role like this. He seems like he was made to lead a romantic comedy, and when the horror comes to the fore, you desperately want him to defeat the killer and make it out alive. On top of all that, Gooding and Holt also work really well together as a comedic duo. They perfectly play up the hilarity that can ensue when a couple is first getting to know each other, and that humor adds yet another layer to what could’ve easily been just a cliched, paint-by-numbers genre flick. All of that great romantic comedy carries Heart Eyes until the killer makes his presence known again, and when that happens, the film doesn’t lose any steam. Like I said, I’m not a huge slasher fan, but even I enjoyed the horror in this one. Unlike some of his slasher peers, this murderer doesn’t waste time crafting ridiculously elaborate kills. He carries out his work quickly and efficiently, so the movie generally avoids lingering on the deaths longer than it has to. Along similar lines, I also found the gore in Heart Eyes to be surprisingly restrained. Sure, the film features a decent amount of blood and guts, but this isn’t Terrifier 3. For the most part, there’s just enough gore to make the deaths realistic, so again, apart from a couple of exceptions, the movie never feels like it’s reveling in its gruesome special effects. Instead, Heart Eyes keeps the focus firmly on Ally and Jay, and it allows the Heart Eyes Killer to be an obstacle they have to overcome, not the star of the show. In other words, this film does what the best slashers often do. It tells a simple good vs. evil story with a villain who happens to be a homicidal maniac, and if you enjoy that kind of horror, I think you’re going to have a great time with this movie. Last but not least, I want to say a few words about the way this story wraps up. I’m not going to spoil anything, but I will tell you that the final scene highlights the value of marriage in a great way. It’s not often that a Hollywood film emphasizes the importance of getting married rather than simply cohabiting, so when I saw that ending, I was very pleasantly surprised. It’s the cherry on top of this awesome experience, so Heart Eyes more than earns its status as an exception to my general dislike of slashers.
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I can’t say I’ve ever been a big fan of Valentine’s Day, but I love movies based around holidays. Whether it’s Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, or any other special day, I simply can’t resist a good film about a well-known holiday, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. So naturally, when I first got wind of Love Hurts, I was instantly intrigued. This movie seemed to have it all: amazing action, fun comedy, and one of my absolute favorite actors in the world, and on top of all that, it’s based on a holiday. If you ask me, that combination is pretty hard to beat, so when tickets finally went on sale, I bought one for opening weekend as soon as I got the chance.
Love Hurts was directed by Jonathan Eusebio, and it stars Ke Huy Quan, Ariana DeBose, Daniel Wu, Marshawn Lynch, Mustafa Shakir, Lio Tipton, and André Eriksen. In the film, Marvin Gable is a successful real estate agent with a dark past. He used to be an assassin for his brother Alvin, but he’s put that life behind him. Now he helps people find their dream homes, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Unfortunately, this peaceful existence doesn’t last forever. Soon after the movie begins, an old colleague named Rose resurfaces and pulls him back into his former life, and the pair find that they have targets on their backs. Alvin is out to get them, so Marvin and Rose have to do everything in their power to fight back against the deadly mob boss and his cronies. On paper, that sounds like it could be a super fun riff on the now familiar John Wick blueprint, but unfortunately, Love Hurts fails to live up to its awesome potential. Granted, it’s not nearly as bad as its abysmal Rotten Tomatoes score (as of this writing, it’s at 19%) might suggest, but it’s not particularly good either. It’s a mixed bag at best, so let’s start with what this film gets right. I said before that Love Hurts features one of my favorite actors in the world, and as you might’ve guessed, that guy is Ke Huy Quan. Like most people, I first saw him in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, and I’ve loved him ever since. He exudes a wholesome charm that’s nearly impossible to resist, so whenever I hear his name attached to a project, it immediately catches my attention. You just know he’s going to be an absolute joy to watch, and to the surprise of no one, he knocks it out of the part in this role as well. Quan plays Marvin, and he absolutely nails both sides of the character. As the unassuming realtor, he looks and acts like the epitome of middle-class normality, and he makes you believe that he really does enjoy his job and his peaceful life. You almost forget that his character is a world-class fighter, but when he has to unleash the assassin buried deep inside, there’s no doubt that he’s one of the most dangerous men on the planet. Ke Huy Quan is a fantastic martial artist, and he pulls off his moves with an effortless grace that’s almost mesmerizing at times. He executes his kicks and punches with perfect form and timing, so if you’re a fan of martial arts action, you’re going to enjoy most of the fights in Love Hurts. They’re often beautiful works of art in their own right, but even here, the movie leaves a bit to be desired at times. Most notably, there are a couple of scenes where the actors focus so much on each individual step in the choreography that the whole thing looks a bit stiff. These brawls feel more like pre-planned dances than naturally flowing fights, so they diminish the authenticity of the experience. There are also a few moments when you can tell the actors are holding back so they don’t hurt each other, but thankfully, all of these issues disappear in the most important fight of all. The final battle between Marvin and Alvin’s goons takes up the last ten minutes or so of the film, and for my money, it’s the best part of the entire movie. It’s almost nonstop action once Marvin steps into the frame, and it’s executed flawlessly. It ensures that your impression of the fights in Love Hurts ends up being pretty positive, but unfortunately, that’s all I can say about it. See, as much as I love great action, a film can’t get by on fight scenes alone. The story has to be good as well, but Love Hurts stumbles pretty badly on that front. To be fair, the basic plot of an elite assassin being pulled back into his former life isn’t bad, but the movie tries to add some love stories on top of that bare-bones premise. And sadly, they don’t work. At all. For example, there’s a character who falls head over heels for one of Alvin’s cronies after reading his poetry, and if you ask me, that whole concept is just ludicrous. Similarly, Marvin himself gets a love interest–Rose, the woman who kickstarts this entire plot–and their relationship is equally unconvincing. The characters simply don’t have enough chemistry to fuel a budding romance, so every time the movie brings it up, their relationship feels forced and unnatural. Unfortunately, those love stories (especially Marvin and Rose’s) are the real heart and soul of Love Hurts. Everything else about the film is meant to feed into that ineffective garbage, so as fun as the action is, I can’t say that I enjoyed this movie overall. The bad ends up outweighing the good by a significant margin, so unless you just want to see a bunch of cool action and you don’t care about the rest of the film, I suggest giving this one a pass. I normally like to begin my reviews with a brief explanation of why I wanted to see the film, but I’m going to start this one with a warning instead. See, I generally try to keep these reviews as spoiler-free as possible, but this time I have to talk about a plot point that some people (but not everyone) might consider a spoiler. It’s a reveal that comes at around the half-hour mark, so it by no means ruins the experience, but if you want to go into Companion completely blind, this probably isn’t the review for you. I’m choosing to talk openly about this semi-spoiler because the second trailer already gave it away and I can’t give my full thoughts on the movie’s message without it, so if you don't mind knowing a minor (and poorly kept) secret beforehand, let’s dive right in.
Companion was written and directed by Drew Hancock, and it stars Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén and Rupert Friend. In the film, Iris and her boyfriend Josh go to an isolated lakehouse to hang out with two other worldly couples–Kat and Sergey, and Eli and Patrick–and at first, everything goes pretty smoothly. But this is a horror movie, so as you can probably guess, things quickly take a turn for the worse. Not long after the couple arrive, Iris learns that her relationship with Josh isn’t what she thought it was. In fact, she isn’t what she thought she was. She’s a “companion robot,” and while I’m sure I don’t have to spell out exactly what that entails, I do need to tell you that this big revelation rocks her world and leads to a deadly and nightmarish chain of events for everyone at the lakehouse. I’m not going to bury the lead. I loved Companion, and the film’s success rests largely on the shoulders of its two amazing leads, Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher. Let’s start with Jack Quaid. He plays Josh, and if you’re familiar with this guy’s work, you know how awesome he is. Whether it’s in The Boys, Scream (2022), or smaller projects like the 2017 slasher comedy Tragedy Girls, this guy just has an irresistible charm that makes you hang on his every word. Whenever he’s on screen, you know you’ll be able to buy into his character with no trouble at all, and to the surprise of no one, that magnetism is on full display here as well. Sophie Thatcher doesn’t quite have the instant likability that makes Jack Quaid so special, but make no mistake, her performance in Companion is just as good as his. She does an amazing job of conveying Iris’s emotions through her facial expressions, and as the stakes begin to rise, she gets better and better. She manages to make her character’s fear and anxiety almost contagious, so between this film, Heretic, and 2023’s The Boogeyman, Thatcher has cemented herself as a modern scream queen. On top of those great lead performances, Companion also features a thrilling story that will keep you on your toes from beginning to end. I obviously can’t tell you how it all plays out, but I can give you a taste of how engrossing this movie is. The first minute or two tell you exactly what’s going to happen at the end, but somehow, that doesn’t ruin the experience. It’s all about the ride, not the destination, and that ride is so fun you won’t care that you already know where it’s headed. Along similar lines, the film also features some really fun horror, but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Unlike most theatrical horror flicks, this one doesn’t throw cheap jump scares at you every few minutes. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything that could really be called a scare. Sure, there’s a good amount of blood, gore, and violence, but none of it is really meant to scare you. Companion favors a somewhat more action-oriented style that’s supposed to be horrific for the characters in the story but not necessarily the audience watching it, and if you enjoy that brand of terror, I think you’re going to have a great time with this movie. Last but not least, we have to talk about the message of Companion. Robots and artificial intelligence naturally raise questions about what it means to be human and whether a machine can ever become a real person, but the way I see it, that’s not the point of this film. Sure, it inevitably provides fodder for those kinds of discussions, but like in a lot of similar movies, that’s just a side effect of the story's real purpose. This genre often uses AI and robots to craft engaging metaphors for real-world problems that real, flesh-and-blood humans experience, and in this particular instance, the story is about women. As a “companion robot,” Iris is treated like an object. Josh simply uses her to fulfill his (largely sexual) desires, and he doesn’t give a second thought to her needs or wants. Companion makes that sad reality so obvious you couldn’t miss it if you tried, but if you’re not entirely convinced, there are a couple of times when the other characters hammer the point home even further. Most notably, there’s a scene early on where Kat and Iris have a one-on-one chat, and Kat explains her unflattering relationship with Sergey. She says she’s just an object the man uses for his own pleasure, and when she realizes that she’s talking to a literal object, she not-so-subtly implies that Iris has the same purpose as well. When you put all these clues together, the point of the film becomes clear as day. It’s an allegory for the various ways men in our society objectify women, and when Iris rebels against her owner, she represents the sometimes unpopular truth that women are people with infinite value and dignity, not objects to be used and abused at the whim of selfish men. It’s a great message our world today desperately needs to hear, and it makes Companion more than just a fun ride. This movie also has serious thematic weight, and if you ask me, that one-two punch is pretty hard to beat. |
Jp Nunezis a longtime film buff and theology nerd with master's degrees in theology and philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville. His favorite movie genres are horror, superheroes, and giant monsters. Archives
February 2025
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